According to ChristianToday.com, the UMC General Assembly voted 445-310 last month to reverse the 46-year-old trend of supporting Roe v. Wade and to become officially pro-life.

Russell Moore, a Southern Baptist and leader of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, stated regarding the UMC’s decision: "Christians of all denominations should praise God for the United Methodist Church's historic repudiation of abortion. This is good news for orthodoxy, for the unity of the Body of Christ, and for the vulnerable unborn and their mothers.”

"There's a long way to go," Moore added, "but we should give thanks for this moment and continue to pray that the church of Jesus Christ would be a stalwart advocate for life and human dignity."

Other Southern Baptist and Evangelical leaders praised the UMC’s decision as well.

John Lomperis, a delegate to the UMC’s General Conference, stated that "This is a necessary and good step towards affirming that the unborn are persons of sacred worth.”

The UMC had been heavily involved in the pro-choice movement and had donated to Planned Parenthood, so the church’s recent decision came as a surprise to many.